There was a sonic boom as Marten de Roon’s stoppage time bullet header almost took the keeper’s wrists off.

The three Teesside tiers of leather-lunged loyalists who had proudly belted out defiant battle hymns all game whacked the volume up to 11 in jubilant glee.

The players punched the air and roared too while de Roon's phone notifications started to beep like crazy and pump out a disco beat.

And it was well worth celebrating. It was Boro's second successive away day draw at a Champions League side when the underdogs showed tenacity, work-rate and a flash of teeth.

It was fantastic. City may have been able to beat Barcelona but they couldn’t see off a determined and well drilled side who seem to have finally found their Premier League feet.

It was a game of two halves – and Boro were great in both of them. Seriously.

The first half may have been nerve shredding to watch from behind the settee or through your fingers but Boro did the job of staying in the game by hook or by crook – and it built the platform for a successful second.

And the second half was fantastic. We can all agree on that. It was a famous 45 in which Boro showed they can live with the best. That Arsenal wasn’t a freak. That they are in the top division by right and can cause anyone problems.

Boro pushed higher up the pitch, were more aggressive in the tackle and pressed the table-toppers into mistakes.

They started to first win most of the 50/50s, to force errors, to turn City and harry them into playing the ball backwards, then to find space in and around the opposition box. Suddenly it was an evenly balanced game.

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If anything, by the end Boro had the edge. They looked the more likely to score and as the clock ran down the only question was whether City could hold on.

The turning point was possibly the moment when Alvaro Negredo almost channelled the power of football’s Inevitability Drive with an audacious effort.

He picked up a loose ball just inside the City half, spotted the keeper off his line then lofted a ball forward that arched high and sailed goalwards in slow motion with hopeful Boro fans holding their breath and City fans watching in frozen horror.

Manchester City's Sergio Aguero and Middlesbrough's George Friend

The keeper scampered back and back-pedalled furiously before just tipping the ball over in relief.

But that moment the dynamic of the game switched. City were rattled and Boro transformed. They started to attack. They played with confidence and belief and a spark.

After that Boro created the best of the chances: a close range angled effort brought a brilliant save from Adam Forshaw and the ball fizzed into the box from both sides.

But Boro had planned for that. They dug tactical trenches 25 yards out and strung out strategic barbed wire then dug in defend for their life against a side largely the same as the one that had dismantled Barcelona in midweek.

City were slick. Probably better than Arsenal. With Fernandinho pulling the strings they passed and probed and were full of mercurial movement along the edge of the box and down the flanks but Boro tracked and closed men and space and blocked crosses.

If the headline grabbing second half star was unlikely goal-getter de Roon then the first half hero was Victor Valdes.

Marten de Roon celebrates

Every time City did manage to pick a way through to get a sight of goal Pep Guardiola’s former Barca shot-stopper was equal to them.

He made a string of brilliant blocks, got a nasty knock when he dived in bravely where the boots were flying and looks increasingly confident as he comes to collect.

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After taking some flak after fumbles in his first few games he was harshly branded ‘rubbish’ by the habitual knee-jerkers but has steadily won the fans over and is now just a couple more sizzling shows (especially at home) from redemption and from becoming a cult hero.

At the Etihad he became the focus of some inventive terrace taunts at the City crowd. “He’s won more than you, he’s won more than you, Victor Valdes, he’s won more than you.”

Boro celebrate at Manchester City

And after he got caught on the thigh making a save and was limping heavily the Boro fans endorsed his medical status with a quick chorus of “One leg, he’s only got one leg.”

After a sizzling spell shot-stopping - “he’s had an Eastwood” - the rehabilitated Valdes is now unquestionably Boro’s number one and the ‘bring back Dimi’ voices are muted.

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There was little Valdes could do about the goal just before the break but any fears that it would open the floodgates were unfounded and after a half-time Aitor pep talk transformed the game never had a serious save to make.

In two impressive periods Boro showed they can mix it with the mighty: they dug in to shackle and defend and then, crucially, proved they could come from behind and score against the very best.